I've found the cd player for analog lovers


I'm the guy who said on Audiogon, "When is digital going to get the soul of music?". Let me just say that I've found the digital player that rivals or beats analog. No, it is not $40,000. Please read me on my thread! I do believe that there is much variability with cd's. So not all cd's are created equally. The player in question is APL Hi-Fi's Denon 3910. I've found that volume is really critical. Alex voiced his player while comparing it to analog. Let me just tell you that I used to get tense from cd. I'm not saying that all cd's will sound great. For instance, my friend bought a cd from Walmart that was Van Morrison's greatest hits. It was hard to listen to through the digital haze to the music on Alex's $19,000(not your price)cd player.
mmakshak
Doug, grammatically you cannot refer to yourself as "we", unless Doug and Deacon are 2 separate individuals. ;)

I did have the opportunity to listen to a few 3910, albeit through different systems at the last RMAF, and I would agree it is pretty analog sounding. I can't recall exactly which modded version is was, but I believe it was the ModWright.

There are other ways to smooth analog sound from digital, mine was the CEC TL2 with the Benchmark DAC1 and JPS digital power cords for both. The JPS digital along with the PS Audio P300(using sine only) made the music sound smooth without the digital edge/glare.
Cmk,

Paul and I are in fact two individuals: he's the smart one, I'm the chatty one. We own and enjoy the equipment, the music and the two cats in common.

Our Exact Power (which also corrects sine wave irregularities) also helps smooth analog output from digital. But our real breakthrough was the way our line stage handles inputs from digital sources. There are several ways to skin this cat, as you said (with apologies to ours for the analogy).
I am sitting back trying to learn from what I read here. I believe TVAD described my APL 3910 correctly, though. I don't think that I was brainwashed by Alex on this player, because before this latest version, I preferred my vinyl(which I think Alex took exception to). The people here have probably correctly identified my problem as not being due to Alex's player. For instance, my preamp is the RGR 3 from the 1980's. BTW, I've doubled my meds. Do you think it will help?
You guys must think that I'm kidding. Let me tell you, I have 2,000 lp's and maybe 5 cd's(although I've accessed many more). Do you think I want cd to beat lp? Ask Alex for the Mmakshak version of the 3910. I want lp to beat cd. In fact, Alex said he has an upgrade(minor), that I'm looking forward to, as it will allow me to lower the tracking force on my nude Archiv, with the corresponding anti-skate-which I'm a current expert on(due to those that know being not-forthcoming). I'm not kidding here guys!
I can't help it. I am interested in music. I don't care about me. I'm too old for that! I don't know how Alex did it, but he did. What I'm trying for here is to get my analog(circa 1992) to equal Alex's 3910. Don't worry, I've not given up! In the meantime, you ought to investigate what I've said.